Implementation of Hertz theory and validation of a nite element model for

stress analysis of gear drives with localized bearing contact

Ignacio Gonzalez-Perez
a,
, Jose L. Iserte
b
, Alfonso Fuentes
a
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), Spain
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Construction, University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 18 November 2009
Received in revised form 20 October 2010
Accepted 21 January 2011
Available online 22 February 2011
An analytical approach for stress analysis of gear drives with localized bearing contact based on
the Hertz theory is proposed. The proposed approach provides a complete and effective
solution of the contact problem but satisfaction of the hypotheses for application of the Hertz
theory is its main drawback. On the other hand, a finite element model has been developed and
validated in terms of the contact area, maximum contact pressure, pressure distribution,
maximum Tresca stress, and Tresca stress distribution underneath the contacting surfaces.
Validation of the finite element model is provided for those cases wherein the Hertz theory can
be applied. The obtained results confirm the applicability of the proposed approach for gear
drives with localized bearing contact wherein edge contact is avoided by surface modifications
and whole crowning of tooth surfaces is provided.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Gear stress analysis
TCA
Hertz theory
Finite element method
1. Introduction
Tooth contact analysis (TCA) and stress analysis are important tools in the design of gear drives. Application of both techniques
allows us to determine, among other information, the following:
(i) The contact pattern, that involves determination of the size, shape, and location of the successive instantaneous contact
areas on the pinion and gear tooth surfaces along a cycle of meshing.
(ii) The contact stresses, that involve determination of the contact pressure distribution on the gear tooth surfaces, the stress
distribution underneath the surfaces, and the maximum contact pressure or the maximum Mises or Tresca effective stress.
(iii) The surface deformation, useful for calculation of transmission errors under load.
Different approaches may be applied for stress analysis of gear drives. One of these approaches is based on the application of
the nite element method. Many works based on the nite element method have investigated the contact area formation for
different surface topologies [13] in order to analyze their behavior in terms of maximum effective stress or maximum contact
pressure. Other works based on the nite element method are directed to the prediction of transmission errors [4]. Application of
the nite element method for the analysis of a whole cycle of meshing is computationally expensive and time-consuming,
although automatic generation of the nite element models [5] may reduce the preprocessing time.
Some other approaches are based on the application of inuence coefcient methods. These methods establish the
determination of the total deformation at each point of the contact area as the sumof deformations caused by unit loads located at
each of those points. Some works based on these methods are directed to the prediction of transmission errors [6], determination
of pressure distribution [7], or determination of the contact pattern [8]. Although these methods are computationally effective, the
Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ignacio.gonzalez@upct.es (I. Gonzalez-Perez).
0094-114X/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2011.01.014
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Mechanism and Machine Theory
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ mechmt
contact problem is not solved completely since stresses underneath the surface are not calculated. Validation of these methods is
carried out by comparison of their results with those provided by the nite element method in terms of transmission errors,
pressure distribution, or contact pattern, respectively.
Finally, there are approaches based on the application of analytical methods, wherein the theory of elasticity is directly applied
under certain hypotheses and boundary conditions. This is the case of Hertz's method [9], that considers a semi-ellipsoidal
distribution of pressure on a half-space with plain strain state. Such hypotheses work properly with non-conforming surfaces and
small contact areas compared with the relative radii of curvature of contacting surfaces [10]. The advantages of analytical methods
are that the contact problem is solved completely and their algorithms are computationally effective. Their disadvantage is the
limitation imposed by the considered hypotheses and boundary conditions. Sheveleva at al. [11] have applied Hertz's method for
determination of maximum contact pressure at spiral bevel gears, validating such a method thorough an inuence coefcient
method.
The main goals of this paper are as follows:
(i) Implementation of an approach based on the Hertz theory for analytical determination of the area of contact, pressure
distribution, stress distribution underneath the tooth surfaces, and their elastic deformation, for gear drives with localized
bearing contact wherein edge contact is avoided by whole crowning of tooth surfaces.
(a) (b)
Fig. 1. A spur pinion tooth surface in case of: (a) partial crowning (areas 2 and 8 are provided with prole crowning; areas 4 and 6 are provided with longitudinal
crowning; areas 1, 3, 7, and 9, are provided with double crowning; area 5 is not modied), and (b) whole crowning (areas 1, 2, 3, and 4, are provided with prole
and longitudinal crowning).
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Results of simulation of meshing and contact of a gear drive wherein the pinion tooth surface are provided with whole crowning: (a) path of contact, and
(b) function of transmission errors.
766 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
(ii) Validation of a nite element model for gear drives with localized bearing contact in terms of the contact pressure
distribution, maximum contact pressure, maximum Tresca stress, stress distribution underneath the surface, size of the
contact area, and elastic deformation.
(iii) Validation of application of the Hertz theory for stress analysis of gear drives with localized bearing contact. The validated
nite element model will allowthe approach based on the Hertz theory to be assessed, especially when the areas of contact
are larger.
(iv) Application of the validated nite element model for gear drives with localized bearing contact in cases wherein the Hertz
theory does not work properly as in modied involute gear drives provided with partial crowning.
2. Methodology
The following methodology will be considered in this research work:
1) A gear drive is computationally designed by application of the theory of gearing [5]. For the purpose of simplicity of the
proposed approach, a spur gear drive with localized bearing contact is considered. Fig. 1 shows two versions of surface
Fig. 3. Coordinate system S
p
dened at contact point P.
(a) (b) (c)
Fig. 4. For determination of surface
r
: (a) tangent plane , (b) surfaces
1
and
2
, and (c) surface
r
.
767 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
topologies. Fig. 1(a) and (b) shows a spur pinion with partial crowning and whole crowning, respectively, that allows the
bearing contact to be localized when errors of alignment occur. In the case shown in Fig. 1(a), line contact exists in zones 25
8 when there are no errors of alignment but when they occur, the contact is localized. In the case shown in Fig. 1(b), theoretical
point contact exists when misalignments are presented or not. The case represented in Fig. 1(b) is similar to those gears where
whole crowning is provided, as in spiral or hypoid bevel gears.
Fig. 1(a) shows some boundary lines between nine areas. The boundary line between areas 123 and 456 is controlled by
parameter u
ot
and the amount of prole crowning is established by a parabola coefcient a
pt
. On the other hand, the boundary
line between areas 456 and 789 is controlled by parameter u
ob
and the amount of prole crowning is controlled by a
parabola coefcient a
pb
. For longitudinal crowning, parameters l
of
and l
ob
control the location of boundary lines between areas
369 and areas 258, and between areas 147 and 258, respectively. The amount of longitudinal crowning is established
by parabola coefcients a
lf
and a
lb
, respectively. More details about these parameters can be found in [1,12]. The surface
topology shown in Fig. 1(b) is a particular case of the one shown in Fig. 1(a) wherein parameters u
ot
=u
ob
and l
of
=l
ob
.
2) Simulation of meshing and contact of pinion and gear tooth surfaces is performed assuming that point contact exists.
The algorithm of tooth contact analysis [5] is applied for determination of contact points and the function of transmission
errors. Fig. 2 shows the results of application of TCA to a spur gear drive with a pinion with whole crowning as the one shown in
Fig. 1(b).
3) An algorithm for application of the Hertz theory in gear drives with localized bearing contact has been developed and applied
for stress analysis of a spur gear drive with localized bearing contact wherein the pinion tooth surface is provided with whole
crowning (see Fig. 1(b)). Two cases are considered: (i) contact at a single point when just one pair of teeth is in contact, and
(ii) contact at two points corresponding to the contact points of two consecutive pairs of contacting teeth.
4) Finite element models of contacting teeth are automatically developed for each case of design. A sensitive-contact region is
dened around the contact point in order to control the renement of the mesh in this zone.
5) Different cases of design are considered for computation of the Hertz theory and nite element analysis. Results from both
methods are compared for the case of a single point of contact and the case of two points of contact. Different amounts of whole
crowning are considered.
Fig. 5. Illustration of principal directions corresponding to principal curvatures on plane .
(a) (b)
Fig. 6. Dimensions of contact ellipse and area of interference in: (a) pinion and gear tooth surfaces, and (b) reference surface
r
.
768 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
6) Finite element analysis is carried out for a modied spur gear drive wherein pinion tooth surface is provided with partial
crowning and the Hertz theory is not applicable.
3. Proposed algorithm for application of the Hertz theory
The Hertz theory is based on the following hypothesis [10]:
(1) Surfaces are continuous and non-conforming.
(2) Contact area is elliptical.
(3) Each body is an elastic half-space loaded over a small elliptical region of its plane surface.
(4) Surfaces are assumed to be frictionless.
For these hypothesis to be satised, contact area has to be small compared with the dimensions of each body and the relative
radii of curvature of the surfaces. Such hypotheses can be satised for gear drives when the bearing contact is localized inside tooth
surfaces and whole crowning is considered. The hypothesis of frictionless surfaces implies that only normal pressure is transmitted
between contacting surfaces.
Two approaches for application of the Hertz theory are considered for a whole crowned spur gear drive with localized bearing
contact: (i) contact at a single point, when the load is shared by just one pair of contacting teeth, and (ii) contact at two points,
when the load is shared by two consecutive pairs of contacting teeth.
(a) (b)
Fig. 7. For determination of main and secondary contact points: (a) contact at the main contact point, and (b) function of transmission errors.
0 2 4 6 8 10
0
2
4
6
8
10
Main Contact
Secondary Contact

1
(10
5
rad)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
o
n
s

1

a
n
d

2

(

m
)
Fig. 8. Interpolated compression functions
1
(
1
) and
2
(
1
) at the main and secondary contact points.
769 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
3.1. Contact at a single point
The application of the Hertz theory at a single contact point is based on the following algorithm:
(i) Pinion tooth surface
1
and gear tooth surface
2
contact at a single point P. Position vector r
1
(P)
and unit normal n
1
(P)
are
determined in coordinate system S
1
, rigidly connected to the pinion tooth surface (Fig. 3).
(ii) A newreference systemS
p
is dened as follows (Fig. 3). Origin O
p
is located at point P. Axis z
p
results collinear to unit normal
n
1
(P)
. Axes x
p
and y
p
are collinear to vectors r
1
(P)
/l and r
1
(P)
/u, respectively, wherein u and l are the surface parameters for
prole and longitudinal directions. Axes x
p
and y
p
dene a common tangent plane to the pinion and gear tooth surfaces
(Fig. 3).
(iii) A new surface
r
is formed from pinion and gear tooth surfaces as follows (Fig. 4)
(a) A point A on the plane is given in system S
p
by vector position r
p
(A)
(x, y) (Fig. 4(a)).
(b) Two projections of point A, A
1
and A
2
, on tooth surfaces
1
and
2
, respectively, are obtained as (Fig. 4(b))
r
A
1

p
x; y = r
A
p
x; y +
1
x; y n
P
p
1
r
A
2

p
x; y = r
A
p
x; y +
2
x; y n
P
p
2
wherein
1
and
2
are scalar coefcients and n
p
(P)
=L
p1
n
1
(P)
is the unit normal at the contact point P in system S
p
. Here, L
p1
is a matrix 33 for coordinate transformation from system S
1
to system S
p
. Scalar coefcients
1
and
2
are determined
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Fig. 9. Illustrations of: (a) the volume of designed body, (b) auxiliary intermediate surfaces, (c) determination of nodes for the whole volume, and (d)
discretization of the volume by nite elements.
(a) (b)
Fig. 10. Schematic illustration of the arrangement for the nite element mesh about contact point P along: (a) prole, inner, and (b) longitudinal directions.
770 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
from the intersection of the projections of point A on the pinion and gear tooth surfaces, respectively.
(c) Surface
r
is then obtained as (Fig. 4(c))
r
A
r

p
x; y = r
A
p
x; y + j
1
x; y j + j
2
x; y j n
P
p
3
wherein A
r
is a new point that belongs to the new surface
r
. Function (|
1
(x, y)| +|
2
(x, y)|) is designated as h(x, y) for the
purpose of simplicity and represents the gap between pinion and gear tooth surfaces when these surfaces are in contact at
point P.
(iv) Principal directions and curvatures of surface
r
are obtained by determination of maximum and minimum values of its
normal curvature at point P [5]. Principal directions are given by angles
I
and
II
respect to axis x
P
(see Fig. 5) and principal
curvatures are designated as
I
and
II
, respectively. The principal curvature radii are given by R
I
=1/
I
and R
II
=1/
II
. In a
spur gear drive, since
I
=0 rad and
II
=/2 rad, axes x
p
and y
p
coincide with the principal directions.
(v) Ratio a/b of the lengths of major and minor semi-axis of the contact ellipse given by the Hertz theory is related with
principal curvature radii R
I
and R
II
as [10]:
R
I
R
II
=
a
b
_ _
2
E e K e
K e E e
: 4
Here,
e =

1
b
2
a
2
_
is the eccentricity of the ellipse;
K e =
= 2
0
1e sin
2

_ _
1=2
d is the complete elliptic integral of the rst kind [13];
E e =
= 2
0
1e sin
2

_ _
1=2
d is the complete elliptic integral of the second kind [13].
For the solution of Eq. (4), the ratio a/b is considered as unknown. During the iterative process for solution of Eq. (4),
elliptic integrals K(e) and E(e) are determined numerically as a function of values a/b. The dimensions of the semi-major
Table 1
Set of variables for mesh renement control.
Number of elements on the tooth surface in prole direction N
p
Number of elements on the tooth surface in longitudinal direction N
l
Number of elements under the tooth surface in inner direction N
s
Number of elements in the sensitive-contact region in prole direction 2N
b
+6
Number of elements in the sensitive-contact region in longitudinal direction 2N
a
Number of elements in the sensitive-contact region in inner direction N
d
(a) (b)
Fig. 11. Schematic illustrations of: (a) boundary conditions for the pinion and the gear, and (b) reference node of the rigid surface of the pinion.
771 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
and semi-minor axes of the contact ellipse, a and b, are quite different from the dimensions of the semi-major and semi-
minor axes of the contact area of interference, A and B, as shown schematically in Fig. 6 for a given compression .
(vi) The dimensions of the contact ellipse, a and b, may be obtained by consideration of an additional relation between a and b
[10],
a

b =
3FR
e
4E
_ _
2=3
F
1
e
2
: 5
Here,
F is the transmitted load between the pair of teeth and can be obtained from T
1
=r
1
(P)
Fn
1
(P)
wherein T
1
is the applied
torque to the pinion.
R
e
=

R
I
R
II
p
is the equivalent radius of curvature at the contact point.
E
T
=
1
1
2
1
E
1
+
1
2
2
E
2
is the equivalent elastic modulus, that is a function of elastic modules E
1
and E
2
and Poisson's
ratios
1
and
2
of pinion and gear materials.
F
1
e =
4
e
2
_ _
1=3
b
a
_ _
1=2
a
b
_ _
2
E e K e
_ _
K e E e
_ _
1=6
is a function that depends on the relation a/b.
(vii) Contact area A
c
, maximum contact pressure p
o
, and compression , are obtained as [10]
A
c
= ab 6
p
o
=
3
2
F
ab
7
=
3
2
F
ab
1
E
bK e 8
(a) (b) (c)
Detail A
Detail A
Fig. 12. Finite element model: (a) pinion and gear tooth models, (b) slice of the pinion tooth model, and (c) detail A of the pinion tooth model.
Table 2
Common gear data for three designs of a spur gear drive.
Number of teeth of the pinion, N
1
21
Number of teeth of the gear, N
2
50
Module, m [mm] 4.0
Pressure angle, [degrees] 25.0
Helix angle, [degrees] 0.0
Face width, F [mm] 40.0
Parabola coefcient for prole top crowning, a
pt
[mm
1
] 0.00025
Parabola coefcient for prole bottom crowning, a
pb
[mm
1
] 0.00025
Parabola vertex location for prole top crowning, u
ot
[mm] 0.0
Parabola vertex location for prole bottom crowning, u
ob
[mm] 0.0
772 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
(viii) Pressure distributions along axis x
p
and y
p
, p(x) and p(y), are determined as [10]
p x = p
o
1
x
a
_ _
1=2
9
p y = p
o
1
y
b
_ _
1=2
10
(ix) Stress distributions along common normal,
x
(z),
y
(z), and
z
(z), are obtained in the pinion as [10]

x
z = p
o
2b
e
2
a

x
z +
1

x
z
_ _
11

y
z = p
o
2b
e
2
a

y
z +
1

y
z
_ _
12

z
z = p
o
b
e
2
a
1T z
2
T z
13
where

x
z =
1
2
1T z +
z
a
F z ; e E z ; e

x
z = 1
a
2
T z
b
2
+
z
a
a
2
b
2
E z ; e F z ; e
_ _

y
z =
1
2
+
1
2T z

Ta
2
b
2
+
z
a
a
2
b
2
E z ; e F z ; e
_ _

y
z = 1 + T z +
z
a
F z ; e E z ; e
T z =
b
2
+ z
2
a
2
+ z
2
_ _
1= 2
z = arctan
a
z
Here, F((z), e) and E((z), e) are the incomplete elliptic integrals of the rst kind and the second kind, respectively [13].
(x) Tresca stress distribution along common normal,
T
(z), is obtained as

T
z = max
x
z
z
z ;
y
z
z
z
_ _
14
(xi) Maximum Tresca stress,
T, o
, is obtained from

T
z
z
= 0z
T;o

T;o
=
T
z
T;o
_ _
: 15
Table 3
Different gear data for three designs of a spur gear drive.
Design A Design B Design C
Parabola coefcient for longitudinal front crowning, a
lf
[mm
1
] 0.0001 0.0002 0.0004
Parabola coefcient for longitudinal back crowning, a
lb
[mm
1
] 0.0001 0.0002 0.0004
Parabola vertex location for longitudinal front crowning, l
of
[mm] 0.0 0.0 0.0
Parabola vertex location for longitudinal back crowning, l
of
[mm] 0.0 0.0 0.0
Table 4
Requested variables.
Contact area, [mm
2
] A
c
Maximum contact pressure, [MPa] p
o
Compression, [m]
Pressure distribution along dimension a, [MPa] p(x)
Pressure distribution along dimension b, [MPa] p(y)
Principal stress distributions along the normal direction, [MPa]
x
(z),
y
(z),
z
(z)
Tresca stress distribution along the normal direction, [MPa]
T
(z)
Maximum Tresca stress, [MPa]
T, o
773 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
3.2. Contact at two points
The application of the Hertz theory at two contact points is based on the following algorithm:
(i) Two types of contact point are dened: (1) the main contact point and (2) the secondary contact point. The assignation of
the main and secondary contact points depends on the angle of rotation of the pinion,
1
, and the corresponding function of
transmission errors. Fig. 7 shows the two types of contact point, P
1
and P
2
, wherein the main one, P
1
, is that of lower
transmission error.
(ii) The main contact point, P
1
, is determined by application of the algorithm explained in detail in [5]. Angle of rotation of the
pinion,
1
, and angle of rotation of the gear,
2
, are then determined, for pinion and gear tooth surfaces to be in contact at
point P
1
.
(iii) The secondary contact point, P
2
, is determined by application of a similar algorithm, but considering as xed the previously
determined angle
2
. An additional angle of rotation of the pinion,
1
, is required to provide contact at point P
2
, causing
compression
1
at the main contact point. Position vector r
P
2

1
and unit normal n
P
2

1
are also determined.
(iv) Compression functions
1
(
1
) and
2
(
1
) at the main and secondary contact points, respectively, are determined. A set of
values of
1
is considered for determination of interpolated functions
1
(
1
) and
2
(
1
) (Fig. 8).
(v) The algorithm explained in Section 3.1 is applied here at each contact point, P
1
and P
2
, from step (i) to step (v), in order to
obtain relations a
1
/b
1
and a
2
/b
2
, respectively. The subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the main and secondary contact points,
respectively. Relative curvature radii are also obtained at each contact point, R
e1
=

R
I1
R
II1
p
, R
e2
=

R
I2
R
II2
p
.
vi The dimensions of the contact ellipses at each contact point depend on the transmitted forces F
1
and F
2
(see Eq. (5)). Such
forces depend on the compressions
1
and
2
, since the Hertz theory provides [10]
F
i
=
16 E

_ _
2
R
ei
9
_ _
1=2

2
a
i
b
i
_ _
1=2
F
1
e
i
K e
i

1
_ _
3=2
i = 1; 2: 16
Since compressions
1
and
2
are functions of angle
1
(see Fig. 8), an iterative process based on the solution of the
following non-linear equation is implemented
T
1
= r
P
1

1
F
1

1

1
n
P
1

1
+ r
P
2

1
F
2

2

1
n
P
2

1
17
wherein the unknown is
1
.
(vii) Once the equilibrium is satised and
1
is known, compressions
1
and
2
are obtained from interpolated functions (see
Fig. 8), forces F
1
and F
2
are obtained from Eq. (16), and dimensions of the contact ellipses are obtained from Eq. (5).
Relations fromEqs. (6) to (15) are then considered at each contact point to obtain A
ci
, p
oi
,
i
, p
i
(x), p
i
(y),
xi
(z),
yi
(z),
zi
(z),

Ti
(z), and
Toi
, i =1, 2.
Table 5
Numerical calculations based on the Hertz theory.
Case A
c
[mm
2
] a [mm] b [mm] [m] p
o
[MPa]
T, o
[MPa] R
I
[mm] R
II
[mm]
A1 3.321 8.195 0.129 3.989 593.4 360.0 10,140.2 12.3
A2 5.265 10.320 0.162 6.330 747.7 453.6 10,140.2 12.3
A3 8.366 13.009 0.205 10.052 942.0 571.5 10,140.2 12.3
B1 2.901 6.269 0.147 4.859 678.8 413.7 4945.2 12.3
B2 4.606 7.899 0.186 8.187 855.2 521.2 4945.2 12.3
B3 7.297 9.952 0.233 12.240 1077.5 656.7 4945.2 12.3
C1 2.510 4.734 0.169 5.941 781.9 479.7 2347.6 12.3
C2 3.998 5.964 0.213 9.432 985.1 604.4 2347.6 12.3
C3 6.322 7.514 0.268 14.970 1241.2 761.5 2347.6 12.3
Table 6
Ratios R
I
/a and R
II
/b for cases A1, B1, and C1.
Case R
I
/a R
II
/b
A1 1237.4 95.3
B1 788.8 83.7
C1 495.9 72.8
774 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
4. Development of nite element models
The approach for the development of nite element models is already known and has been proposed in [14]. Some features
have been incorporated here to the nite element models for a better control of the mesh renement around the contact point. The
proposed approach is accomplished as follows:
Step 1. Pinion and gear tooth surface equations and portions of the corresponding rims are considered for determination of the
volumes of the designed bodies. Fig. 9(a) shows the volume for one tooth model of the pinion of a spur gear drive.
Step 2. The volume of each tooth of the model is divided into six subvolumes using auxiliary intermediate surfaces 16 as shown
in Fig. 9(b).
Step 3. Node coordinates (Fig. 9(c)) are determined analytically considering tooth surface equations, portions of corresponding
rims, and the set of variables for mesh renement control that are described below.
Step 4. Discretization of the model by nite elements using the nodes determined in the previous step is accomplished as shown
in Fig. 9(d).
Step 5. The set of variables for mesh renement control affects to the number of nite elements around the contact point P
(Fig. 10). A sensitive-contact region is dened around the contact point P as follows:
(i) A group of elements of regular size with dimension l l l is created in the sensitive-contact region.
(ii) The size l of the elements is controlled by dimension b and number N
b
. Here, b is the length of the semi-minor axis of the
contact ellipse that Hertz theory predicts; N
b
is the number of elements that covers dimension b. Length l may be obtained
as l =b/N
b
.
(iii) The number of elements of regular size that covers a fraction of dimension a is controlled by number N
a
. Here, a is the
length of the semi-major axis of the contact ellipse that Hertz theory predicts. Since ab, N
a
N
b
for the whole contact
area to be covered by elements of regular size and this is, in practice, computationally expensive. Beside this, it is expected
that pressure distribution has a larger scope along dimension b than along dimension a. These are the reasons why N
a
is
the number of elements of regular size that covers just a fraction of dimension a.
(iv) The number of elements of regular size underneath the tooth surface is controlled by number N
d
.
(v) Three more rows of elements of regular size are added along dimension b, up and down (Fig. 10(a) shows just one row up
and one rowdown for the purpose of simplicity). This establishes the number of elements in the sensitive-contact region as
(2N
b
+6)N
a
N
d
.
Table 7
Meshes M1, M2, and M3, and corresponding results for case A1.
{N
b
, N
d
, N
s
} Mesh M1 {1, 1, 4} Mesh M2 {2, 2, 5} Mesh M3 {3, 3, 6} Hertz result Relative error [%]
A
c
[mm
2
] 3.841 3.606 3.450 3.321 3.884
[m] 4.186 4.201 4.186 3.989 4.939
p
o
[MPa]
a
665.2 592.9 593.1 593.4 0.051
p
o
[MPa]
b
572.9 582.9 588.3 593.4 0.859

T, o
[MPa] 482.0 458.7 417.7 360.0 16.028

T, o
[MPa]
c
482.0 390.5 372.4 360.0 3.444
a
Through variable CPRESS [15].
b
Through viewer [15].
c
Average threshold of 35%.
CPRESS (MPa)
+0.000e+00
+5.883e+01
+1.177e+02
+1.765e+02
+2.353e+02
+2.942e+02
+3.530e+02
+4.118e+02
+4.707e+02
+5.295e+02
+5.883e+02
slave
surface
COPEN (mm)
+ 5.058e-02
- 4.186e-04
- 8.372e-04
- 1.256e-03
- 1.674e-03
- 2.093e-03
- 2.511e-03
- 2.930e-03
- 3.349e-03
- 3.767e-03
- 4.186e-03
(a) (b)
Fig. 13. Illustration of (a) contact pressure distribution on pinion tooth surface, and (b) overclosures distribution on pinion tooth surface.
775 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
(vi) Size of the elements located out of the sensitive-contact region increase exponentially from such a region towards the
borders or the intermediate surfaces of the tooth model. Number of elements in prole, longitudinal, and inner directions
are controlled by numbers N
p
, N
l
, and N
s
, respectively.
A summary of the set of variables for mesh renement control is shown in Table 1.
Step 6 Setting of boundary conditions are accomplished as follows (Fig. 11):
(i) Nodes on the two sides and bottom part of the gear rim are encastred (Fig. 11(a)).
(ii) Nodes on the two sides and bottom part of the pinion rim form a rigid surface (Fig. 11(a)).
(iii) A reference node N located on the axis of the pinion is used as the reference point of the previously dened rigid surface
(Fig. 11(b)). Reference point N and rigid surface constitute a rigid body.
(iv) Only one degree of freedom is dened as free at the reference point Nrotation about the pinion axiswhile all other
degrees of freedomare xed. Application of a torque T
1
in rotational motion at the reference point N allows to apply such a
torque to the pinion model while the gear model is held at rest.
Step 7 Elements of rst order have been considered in the nite element mesh. This type of elements is recommended for contact
simulations [15].
Step 8 Contact formulation is based on a surface-to-surface discretization, a nite-sliding tracking approach, and a slavemaster
contact algorithm [15]. Elements of the model required for the formation of pinion-slave tooth surface and gear-master
tooth surface are automatically identied.
Fig. 12 shows an example of a nite element model of a spur gear drive with one pair of teeth.
1 0.5 0 0.5 1
0
200
400
600
x/a
p
(
x
)

(
M
P
a
)
FEM
Hertz
1 0.5 0 0.5 1
0
200
400
600
y/b
p
(
y
)

(
M
P
a
)
FEM
Hertz
Fig. 14. Contact pressure distributions p(x) (left) and p(y) (right) in case A1 obtained fromthe Hertz theory and the fromnite element method through mesh M3.
(Avg: 0%)
S, Tresca (MPa)
+2.125e 01
+4.197e+01
+8.372e+01
+1.255e+02
+1.672e+02
+2.090e+02
+2.507e+02
+2.925e+02
+3.342e+02
+3.760e+02
+4.177e+02
detail A
End
Start
normal
direction
(a) (b)
Fig. 15. Tresca stress distribution in the pinion tooth model for case A1 and mesh M3 without any averaging threshold: (a) slice of the pinion tooth model, and (b)
detail A showing points along the normal direction for collecting stress results.
776 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
(Avg: 35%)
S, Tresca (MPa)
+2.242e 01
+3.744e+01
+7.466e+01
+1.119e+02
+1.491e+02
+1.863e+02
+2.235e+02
+2.607e+02
+2.979e+02
+3.352e+02
+3.724e+02
detail A
(a) (b)
Fig. 16. Tresca stress distribution in the pinion tooth model for case A1 and mesh M3 with an averaging threshold of 35%: (a) slice of the pinion tooth model, and
(b) detail A.
300
200
100
0
z/b

x

(
M
P
a
)

x
-Hertz

x
FEM-ave

x
-FEM
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
600
400
200
0
z/b

y

(
M
P
a
)

y
-Hertz

y
-FEM-ave

y
-FEM
600
400
200
0
z/b

z

(
M
P
a
)

z
-Hertz

z
FEM-ave

z
-FEM
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
100
200
300
400
z/b

T

(
M
P
a
)

T
-Hertz

T
-FEM-ave

T
-FEM
Fig. 17. Variation of principal stresses and Tresca stress along the normal direction z,
x
(z) (up-left),
y
(z) (up-right),
z
(z) (down-left), and
T
(z) (down-right), in
case A1, obtained from the Hertz theory and from the nite element method.
777 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
5. Numerical examples
This section covers stress analyses based on the Hertz theory and the nite element method for several cases of design. A
general-purpose computer program [15] has been applied for the stress analyses based on the nite element method.
The approach for the development of the numerical examples is as follows:
(1) Gear data for three designs of a spur gear drive are considered. Each design of the gear drive is based on a different amount
of crowning in longitudinal direction of their pinion tooth surfaces. The amount of crowning in prole direction of their
pinion tooth surfaces is the same for the three designs and this means that the same function of unloaded transmission
errors is provided to each design.
(2) Three values of torque T
1
are being applied to the pinion for the same angular position of the pinion in each of the three
designs, resulting in nine congurations of nite element models.
(3) Pinion and gear nite element models are automatically developed for each analysis or conguration by the developed
computer programs as explained in Section 4.
(4) Requested data from numerical calculations and stress analyses are presented. The variables that are used for the output of
results in the general-purpose computer program [15] are presented.
(5) Validation of the nite element model is accomplished for the numerical example in which the Hertz theory should work
the best. Setting of variables for the mesh renement control is achieved.
(6) Numerical calculations based on the Hertz theory and nite element analyses are compared for each design and applied
torque in order to validate the analytical approach based on the Hertz theory.
0
2
4
6
8
10
(m)
A
c

(
m
m
2
)
Hertz(A) FEM(A)
Hertz(B) FEM(B)
Hertz(C) FEM(C)
0 5 10 15
0
500
1,000
(m)
p
o

(
M
P
a
)
Hertz-A FEM-A
Hertz-B FEM-B
Hertz-C FEM-C
0 5 10 15
Fig. 18. Contact area A
c
versus compression (left) and maximum contact pressure p
o
versus compression (right) obtained from the Hertz theory and from the
nite element method for the nine cases of design.
0 5 10 15
0
200
400
600
800

T
,
o

(
M
P
a
)
Hertz(A) FEM(A)
Hertz(B) FEM(B)
Hertz(C) FEM(C)
(m)
Fig. 19. Maximum Tresca stress
T, o
versus compression obtained from the Hertz theory and from the nite element method for the nine cases of design.
778 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
5.1. Input and requested data
Three designs A, B, and C of a spur gear drive are considered. The common gear data for all three designs is shown in Table 2.
The different gear data for designs A, B, and C is shown in Table 3. The applied torques to the pinion in each design are T
1
=
{50, 100, 200}N m. The total number of analysis is nine and is identied as A
i
, B
i
, and C
i
(i ={1, 2, 3}), where i =1 for T
1
=50 N m,
i =2 for T
1
=100 N m, and i =3 for T
1
=200 N m.
The requested data fromnumerical calculations and stress analyses is shown in Table 4. The calculation of the variables shown
in Table 4 is accomplished through the Hertz theory and the nite element method for the nine analyses.
1 0.5 0 0.5 1
0
200
400
600
800
x/a
p
(
x
)

(
M
P
a
)
FEM
Hertz
1 0.5 0 0.5 1
0
200
400
600
800
y/b
p
(
y
)

(
M
P
a
)
FEM
Hertz
Fig. 20. Contact pressure distributions p(x) (left) and p(y) (right) in case A2 obtained from the Hertz theory and from the nite element method.
0 1 2 3 4 5
800
600
400
200
0
z / b

x

(
M
P
a
)

x
-Hertz

x
FEM-ave

x
-FEM
0 1 2 3 4 5
1,000
500
0
z / b

y

(
M
P
a
)

y
-Hertz

y
-FEM-ave

y
-FEM
0 1 2 3 4 5
1,000
500
0
z / b

z

(
M
P
a
)

z
-Hertz

z
FEM-ave

z
-FEM
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
200
400
600
800
z / b

T

(
M
P
a
)

T
-Hertz

T
-FEM-ave

T
-FEM
Fig. 21. Variation of principal stresses and Tresca stress along the normal direction z,
x
(z) (up-left),
y
(z) (up-right),
z
(z) (down-left), and
T
(z) (down-right), in
case C3, obtained from the Hertz theory and from the nite element method.
779 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
5.2. Validation of the nite element model
Validation of the nite element model is accomplished as follows:
(1) The Hertz theory is applied to the nine cases of analysis described above.
(2) Several nite element analyses are accomplished for the chosen case of design (in which the hypotheses of application of
the Hertz theory apply) by increasing the renement of the mesh through variables N
b
, N
d
, and N
s
.
(3) Convergency in terms of A
c
, , p
o
, and
T, o
is observed to conrm validation of the nite element model.
Table 5 shows the numerical results obtained fromapplication of the Hertz theory to the nine cases of analysis described above.
The material is steel with the properties of Young's Modulus E=2.06810
5
MPa and Poisson's ratio 0.29 in both members of the
gear drive. The case of design is chosen by considering that: (i) the areas of contact should be small (cases A1, B1, and C1) in
comparison with the dimensions of the designed bodies, and (ii) R
I
a and R
II
b in order for the tooth surfaces to be considered
as elastic half-spaces. Comparison of the ratios R
I
/a and R
II
/b is shown in Table 6 for cases A1, B1, and C1. Since the largest ratios are
obtained for case A1, this is the chosen case for validation of the nite element model.
Three sets of variables for the mesh renement control are considered and identied in Table 7 as mesh M1, mesh M2, and
mesh M3. Numbers of elements in prole and longitudinal directions, N
p
=34 and N
l
=98, are common to the three meshes.
Number N
a
=15 is large enough and common as well to the three meshes since its variation scarcely affects the results.
Table 7 shows the results A
c
, , p
o
, and
T, o
obtained fromstress analysis for each mesh. Relative errors fromthe results obtained
through mesh M3 in comparison with Hertz results are shown in the last column of Table 7.
Fig. 13(a) shows the contact pressure distribution on the pinion-slave tooth surface for case A1 obtained through mesh M3.
Fig. 13(b) shows the overclosures distribution on the pinion tooth surface. A visual comparison of the area of contact in Fig. 13(a)
and the area of interference between pinion and gear tooth surfaces in Fig. 13(b) shows a signicant difference.
(Avg: 37%)
S, Tresca (MPa)
+2.505e 01
+5.003e+01
+9.982e+01
+1.496e+02
+1.994e+02
+2.492e+02
+2.990e+02
+3.487e+02
+3.985e+02
+4.483e+02
+4.981e+02
CPRESS (MPa)
+0.000e+00
+7.571e+01
+1.514e+02
+2.271e+02
+3.028e+02
+3.785e+02
+4.542e+02
+5.299e+02
+6.056e+02
+6.813e+02
+7.571e+02
slave surface 1
slave surface 2
(a) (b)
Fig. 22. Pressure and Tresca stress distributions in the pinion tooth model for case A3 and mesh M2 when two pairs of teeth are in contact: (a) pressure stress
distribution on two teeth, and (b) Tresca stress distribution on a slice of the pinion tooth model.
Fig. 23. Maximum contact pressures p
o
(left) and contact areas A
c
(right) for case A3 when two pairs of teeth are in contact, obtained from the Hertz theory and
from the nite element method, along a portion of the cycle of meshing.
780 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
Fig. 14 shows the pressure distribution p(x) and p(y) along dimensions a and b, respectively, in case A1, obtained from the
Hertz theory and fromthe nite element method through mesh M3. Fig. 14 shows that both methods provide similar distributions
of pressure.
Fig. 15(a) shows the Tresca stress distribution on the middle slice of the pinion tooth model. Since no averaging threshold is
considered in the representation, discontinuities are observed. Fig. 15(b) shows a detail of the middle slice of the pinion tooth
model. Fig. 15(b) shows as well the set of points along the normal direction to the pinion tooth surface for collecting stress results.
The start point coincides with the contact point. The end point is 5b far from the start point in the normal direction. The middle
points are obtained as the intersections of the normal direction to the pinion tooth surface and the element faces.
Fig. 16 shows the Tresca stress distribution obtained for case A1 and mesh M3 when an averaging threshold of 35% is applied.
Such an averaging threshold is large enough to smooth the Tresca stress distribution. The set of points considered in Fig. 15(b) is
being considered here for representation of averaged values.
Fig. 17 shows the variation of principal stresses and Tresca stress along the normal direction z,
x
(z),
y
(z),
z
(z), and
T
(z),
in case A1, obtained from the Hertz theory and from the nite element method with mesh M3. The set of points represented in
Fig. 15(b) was considered here for collection of the averaged and not-averaged stress results. Fig. 17 shows a good agreement of
the stress variations obtained by the Hertz theory and the averaged stress results obtained by the nite element method.
The obtained results for case A1, where the Hertz theory should work better than in other cases, conrmthat the nite element
model provided with mesh M3 is validated. Mesh M3 provides 52,788 elements with 58,697 nodes when one pair of teeth is
considered. In other cases where hypotheses of application of the Hertz theory do not apply, the validated nite element model
will be applied to solve the contact problem.
5.3. Results
5.3.1. Contact at a single point
Fig. 18 shows the contact areas A
c
and the maximumcontact pressures p
o
for the nine cases of analysis, obtained fromthe Hertz
theory and from the nite element method, versus the compression obtained from the Hertz theory. A good agreement is
obtained for the contact areas wherein the maximum relative error is reached in case A3 with 5.426%. A better agreement is
obtained for the maximum contact pressures wherein the maximum relative error is reached in case A3 with 1.352%.
Fig. 19 shows the maximumTresca stress
T, o
for the nine cases of analysis, obtained from the Hertz theory and from the nite
element method (with a threshold of 35%), versus the compression obtained from the Hertz theory. A good agreement is
obtained as well for the maximum Tresca stress, wherein the maximum relative error is reached in case B1 with 6.4%.
Pressure distributions p(x) and p(y) are shown in Fig. 20 for case A2. Principal stress variations
x
(z),
y
(z), and
z
(z), and
Tresca stress variation
T
(z) are shown in Fig. 21 for case C3. The good agreement of the results validates the approach based on the
Table 8
Specic gear data for design D.
Parabola coefcient for prole top crowning, a
pt
[mm
1
] 0.00025
Parabola coefcient for prole bottom crowning, a
pb
[mm
1
] 0.00025
Parabola vertex location for prole top crowning, u
ot
[mm] 1.6
Parabola vertex location for prole bottom crowning, u
ob
[mm] 1.6
Parabola coefcient for longitudinal front crowning, a
lf
[mm
1
] 0.0006
Parabola coefcient for longitudinal back crowning, a
lb
[mm
1
] 0.0006
Parabola vertex location for longitudinal front crowning, l
of
[mm] 10.0
Parabola vertex location for longitudinal back crowning, l
of
[mm] 10.0
CPRESS (MPa)
+0.000e+00
+9.496e+01
+1.899e+02
+2.849e+02
+3.798e+02
+4.748e+02
+5.698e+02
+6.647e+02
+7.597e+02
+8.547e+02
+9.496e+02
CPRESS (MPa)
+0.000e+00
+1.086e+02
+2.172e+02
+3.259e+02
+4.345e+02
+5.431e+02
+6.517e+02
+7.603e+02
+8.689e+02
+9.776e+02
+1.086e+03
(a) (b)
Fig. 24. Contact pressure distributions in the pinion tooth model for case of design D and mesh M3 when shaft angle error is: (a) 1.0 arcmin, and (b) 2.0 arcmin.
781 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
Hertz theory to solve the contact problem on those gear drives with localized bearing contact wherein edge contact is avoided by
whole crowning of the tooth surfaces.
5.3.2. Contact at two points
Case A3 is considered for investigation of application of the Hertz theory when the load is shared by two pairs of teeth. Fig. 22
shows the contact pressure and the Tresca stress distribution for case A3 obtained by application of the nite element method.
Two slave surfaces are considered for determination of the maximum contact pressure and the contact area at two locations, the
main tooth and the secondary tooth. Slave surfaces 1 and 2 correspond to the main and secondary teeth, respectively. Fig. 23 shows
the maximumcontact pressure p
o
and the contact area A
c
at the main tooth and at the secondary tooth, obtained by application of
the Hertz theory and the nite element method, during a portion of the cycle of meshing at which the transfer of meshing fromthe
main tooth to the secondary tooth occurs. It is observed a difference between FEM and Hertz results due to the inuence of the
bending deection, that is not considered in the model that applies the Hertz theory.
The maximum relative error of the maximum contact pressure at the main tooth is 3.83% whereas at the secondary tooth is
5.79%. The maximumrelative error of the contact area at the main tooth is 12.49% whereas at the secondary tooth is 11.73%. At one
of the contact points, the maximumcontact pressure at the secondary tooth obtained by the nite element method (103.8 MPa) is
not reliable due to the presence of edge contact at the top of the gear tooth. The results show that the model based on the Hertz
theory overestimates the maximum contact pressure and underestimates the contact area.
5.3.3. Contact at a single point on pinion tooth surface provided with partial crowning
A new case of design (design D) based on partial crowning of pinion tooth surfaces is considered here. Table 8 shows the
specic gear data.
Fig. 24(a) and (b) shows the contact pressure distribution when a torque of 200 N m is applied and a shaft angle error of
1.0 arcmin and 2.0 arcmin, respectively, is considered for design D. It is observed that the shaft angle error affects to the size of the
contact area and to the maximum contact pressure.
Table 9 shows a comparison of the area of contact and the maximumcontact pressure obtained fromthe Hertz theory and from
the nite element method. In this case, the Hertz theory does not work properly due to the existence of an involute area close to
the contact point that affects to the hypothesis of the Hertz theory, since pinion and gear tooth surfaces cannot be modeled as
quadratic surfaces. Table 9 shows that the Hertz theory provides the same solution when the shaft angle error is 1 arcmin or if it is
2 arcmin. Compliance of results may be achieved if the contact point is far enough from the involute area.
6. Conclusions
The obtained results allow the following conclusions to be drawn:
(i) An approach based on the Hertz theory has been implemented for determination of contact variables, such as the contact
area, the pressure distribution, the maximum contact pressure, the stress distribution underneath the contacting surfaces,
the maximum Tresca stress, and the compression, for gear drives with localized bearing contact wherein edge contact is
avoided by whole crowning of the tooth surfaces. Such an approach has been applied to the case of one pair of teeth sharing
the load and the case of two pairs of teeth sharing the load.
(ii) A nite element model has been developed and validated in terms of the contact area, the maximum contact pressure, the
pressure distribution along major and minor semi-axes of the contact area, the principal stress distribution underneath the
contacting surfaces, the Tresca stress distribution underneath the contacting surfaces, and the maximum Tresca stress.
Validation has been carried out by observation of the convergence of the above mentioned magnitudes through an
increased renement of the mesh and by comparison of the results provided by the Hertz theory in such a case wherein
Hertz hypotheses are satised.
(iii) The validated nite element model has been applied in gear drives with localized bearing contact wherein tooth surfaces
are provided with partial crowning and the Hertz theory does not apply.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their deep gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the nancial support of project
Ref. DPI2007-63950 and to the Fundacin Caja Castelln-Bancaja for the support received through the Program of Mobility of
Researchers, Ref. E-2008-11.
Table 9
Comparison of contact areas and maximum contact pressures obtained by the Hertz theory and by the nite element method in case D.
[arcmin] A
c
-Hertz [mm
2
] A
c
-FEM [mm
2
] p
o
-Hertz [MPa] p
o
-FEM [MPa]
1 5.828 9.504 1352.3 967.7
2 5.828 8.610 1352.3 1103
782 I. Gonzalez-Perez et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 46 (2011) 765783
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Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, conference of
10th International Power Transmission and Gearing Conference, Las Vegas, 7, 2007, pp. 1928.
[2] A. Kawalec, J. Wiktor, Simulation of generation and tooth contact analysis of helical gears with crowned anks, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
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